The Time Of Our Lives
by IchigoMelon
Summary: PruCan, AU. Gilbert Beilschmidt is a senior who, after constantly seeing him everywhere, develops a crush on the volunteer from the academy at school. Of course, he's sure he doesn't even have a chance with him until a rather interesting interaction. But somewhere in the middle they can become friends, and maybe, just maybe a little more.


_If you were to ask me to pinpoint the best moment of all my years in high school, I'd tell you the spring of Senior Year, without a doubt.  
_

* * *

Gilbert drummed his fingers in a rhythmic pattern on the desk, his mind wandering aimlessly as the teacher droned on about something he wasn't even sure about. His fingernails went _click, click, click _on the plastic finish, and soon enough, he heard someone join in, that someone probably being Antonio, who was also in class with him, but it was probably subconscious, since Antonio _always _listened in class.

Either way, he was blatantly _bored_ out of his mind, and to be honest, he'd kill for a little entertainment.

* * *

_Now if you were to ask me why…well, I might take a little more time to answer. There are so many reasons why, but I guess, no, I'm sure one stands out above all, really.  
_

* * *

Gilbert groaned as the teacher told the class to turn to whatever page in their textbook and do some reading. At least, though, it wasn't just him. Everyone groaned rather loudly, clearly displeased with the instruction. There was a small scolding, something along the lines of, "Now don't complain, the kids in the other class have a lot more work than this…"

The room was quiet after that, everyone proceeding to read what was given to them when there was a light knock on the door, before someone stepped inside.

Gilbert looked up to see who'd entered, assuming quickly for it to be another teacher in need of something when he was quite blatantly wrong. Instead it was a…a boy, a young man now that he looked him over. He had shoulder length blond hair, with a slight, curvy sort of wave to it. There was a small little loop that strung out from the rest, which in all honesty was sort of annoying and cute at the same time. His clothing was rather simplistic, white short sleeve, button up (though it wasn't buttoned at all), and a red tank top underneath. Around his neck was a dog tag, with unidentifiable words from his distance. He wore dark, navy jeans, falling over red high tops that were tied with off-white laces, looking as though they'd been worn quite a lot.

It wasn't just him though, everyone was staring. No one had ever seen this boy before. He shifted slightly as he entered, and it was then everyone saw the yellow sticker on his sleeve, indicating 'volunteer', which was strange. A student being a volunteer? Well, he couldn't be any older than them! So why was he here?

"Ah, Matthew. So glad you could come by today. It is Matthew, right?" the teacher smiled warmly at him, and the boy nodded.

"That's me. Glad you could have me, really!" he said, returning the smile.

That was the first time Gilbert had ever seen Matthew Williams.

* * *

_Yeah, it was Matthew. Matthew was definitely the reason why Senior Year was the most fantastic. Undoubtedly Matthew was the reason why Senior Year was the most fantastic.  
_

* * *

It turned out that Matthew was a volunteer who needed a certain amount of hours of volunteer work to graduate from the academy he went to, so he would be in the classroom from time to time. Turns out the academy was like the high school, except for the tiny detail that it was a "private" school so to speak, and that the students on campus were geniuses. And also the fact that they had to wear uniforms on campus, in which any time outside of school, they didn't.

Gilbert found himself watching the boy instead of reading, somehow entranced by him. It was so simple what he was doing, whether it be sorting papers or running errands here and there. Yet, he was so…different from what he was used to. The public high school was full of roughed up kids and proper princesses who didn't really care about anything at all. Though Matthew seemed…right in the middle.

Matthew noticed the albino's eyes on him, and turned to him as he was stapling a paper. For a moment he watched him back, their eyes locking. Gilbert now noted that his eyes were violet, no joke, they were this rich amethyst color and lord, they were _beautiful_.

He smiled lightly, and waved at him.

And stupidly, Gilbert waved back.

* * *

_I'll be honest. I'd never felt anything like what I felt for Matthew the first time I saw him. I was usually so confident, so outgoing, yet for him, I was frozen, awkward, if you will.  
_

* * *

Matthew laughed lightly at him and went back to stapling, and Gilbert tried to go back to his reading, but couldn't seem to help it. Antonio, who was sitting behind him grinned at the interaction, and poked him in the back.

"Someone's in love…~" he whispered, and Gilbert shot him a look.

"I've seen him for all of ten minutes. There's no way, Toni," he hissed, and Antonio just chuckled.

"Love at first sight, then!"

He shushed him, and scanned the words on the page, though none of it was even registering inside of his mind.

But seriously, love?

* * *

_Nah, I don't think at the time it was love. I'm more under the impression it was an…interest. An infatuation, in a sense. Matthew was different from anything I'd ever seen before, really. And sure, that may seem weird. He was just another boy right? But no, he had this…air about him. This air that I'd never known before. Plus he was a freaking genius, which I'd never met either.  
_

* * *

The bell rang, signaling class was over. The teacher began to spout of something about how they had a quiz next class and that they'd better study their notes and finish their reading if they wanted to pass it. Gilbert laughed, knowing that no matter how much he studied, he wouldn't pass anyway.

He looked over to see a few of the students, mostly the girls, talking to Matthew who was sitting on top of one of the desks. Gilbert honestly couldn't get over how friendly he was being, but maybe that was just in his academy etiquette, to be polite when volunteering, or some nonsense like that.

Matthew looked up and saw him staring, and waved at him again, but it was a different sort of wave, as if to say goodbye, since he was leaving.

Gilbert almost waved back, but instead smiled faintly at him before Antonio began to tug him out.

"Come on, we have to catch up with Francis!"

He nodded, and followed him out, Antonio chattering away about nonsense that Gilbert himself wasn't sure he understood.

* * *

_Anyway, turned out Matthew volunteered in a lot of different classrooms. I tell you, he was such a teacher's pet. Did anything they asked, even helped out some of the students when they were struggling in some subject. Like I said, genius kid helps everyone out. Everyone adored him, and loved his company, and heck, I did too. He was like a light in the room, some sort of warmth. Though, I never said that out loud. _

* * *

"…And then you just divide that by two, and you'll get your quotient. Sound fair?" Matthew smiled, teaching the steps to the problem to one of the girls, who smiled gratefully up at him as she nodded, quickly scribbling down the answer.

Gilbert grinned, and then looked back down to his paper. He stuck the eraser in his mouth, but then thought better of himself before he started to chew. Why was it so easy for her to understand but not for him?

He grumbled and put his head down on his desk, and sat there for a good few minutes before someone touched his shoulder.

"Need…some help there?"

He raised his crimson eyes to him, and looked down at his paper, saying nothing in particular. Matthew glanced at his paper, scanned it, and then said quietly, "Well there's your problem…"

The boy began to explain in a series of crystal clear steps, and for the love of everything, Gilbert actually _understood_ what he was saying. He began to scribble away at the problem, and then looked back to Matthew as if asking for approval, in which he nodded.

"Exactly. See, you got it!"

Gilbert smiled lightly, nodding, before turning his smile into a smirk. "Thanks. I got it now."

Matthew watched him fondly for a moment, and then said quietly, "Sure thing."

When he turned around, Gilbert looked up again, and his smile softened once more.

* * *

_Okay, I'll admit it. I think that's when I fell in love with him. Or at least, it actually made a leaf in my heart. You know, a spark. When he helped me out it got me close to him, and I just…fuck it, he was beautiful. That might be sort of insulting, since he was a boy, but I'm not kidding, he was gorgeous. So after that little moment, I started to, well, try and talk to him more.  
_

* * *

"Hey, uh, Matthew?"

Matthew looked up from his counting, accidentally running his finger along the edge of one of the papers, and he suddenly winced, drawing back hurriedly. He grabbed his wrist, examining his finger, as he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his good hand.

"Sorry, paper cut," he said lamely, showing the finger with blood oozing out of the slice. Gilbert looked away quickly, sort of grossed out by the cut.

"Yikes. Er, sorry about that. Let's get a…" he walked over to the tissue box and pulled one out, grabbing his hand and wrapping the material around the cut. The two of them watched as the red stained the white, as he continued to press down on it.

Matthew hissed lightly, a small jolt of pain shocking his finger. "Hate paper cuts, really. Wanna walk down to the nurse and get a band-aid, or like, do you know where the teach keeps them…?"

He shrugged, and then said softly, "Let's just walk down there, ah…"

Gilbert took a moment, and then he snickered, before laughing, a whole, chest rattling laugh. "Gilbert. Sorry. Gilbert's my name. I figured that since I knew yours, you knew mine."

The two began walking to the door. "Not quite. But it's nice to meet you anyway, Gilbert."

"Likewise."

* * *

_After the walk to the nurse, well, we started to talk more. I'd stay a few minutes after class to talk to him; just long enough to where I could dart out of the room and make it to my next class before being called tardy. I learned a lot of about him, then, and in a way, I learned a lot about myself at the same time.  
_

* * *

"The uniforms aren't all bad. You don't get made fun of for what you wear inside the school, at least," Matthew explained, sitting on one of the desks by the window while Gilbert leaned against said window.

"Really? Seriously, this place must be a huge change for you, then," he commented, yawning a bit.

The blond shook his head. "Sort of, but I got used to it pretty fast. Actually, my volunteer hours are almost fulfilled. Just need to get a signature for today and tomorrow, and well, I'm done."

There was a moment of silence, then, and Gilbert nodded slowly. "I…see. Well that's good, yeah?"

Matthew frowned, but only for a second. "Of course. But well, I've grown to like this place, so that doesn't mean I have to really…leave. I'll just be around less, really, since we're granted leave because of the necessary hours."

Gilbert snorted. "I can't see why you'd like this place."

"More so it's because I like the people."

That made him stop, and another sort of silence passed over him before the albino checked the clock on the wall.

"I'd better run, don't want to be tardy!" he said half cheerfully, and Matthew nodded quietly.

"Yeah, better get going."

* * *

_What happened after that? Well, funny. After we started talking a lot, I eventually worked up the courage to ask him out. Not on a date, just to you know, hang out. That was cool with me. And of course, he readily agreed.  
_

* * *

"You're not what I thought you were."

Gilbert stopped in mid-slurp from his coffee and frowned, shoulders slumping a bit. "Huh…?"

Matthew laughed lightly. "I mean, when I first saw you, I thought you were some sort of awkward misfit, no offense," he started, but when he waved it off, he continued. "But you know, you're actually pretty cool. Like, you were just shy."

He grinned, but Gilbert frowned, shaking his head indignantly. "No way! I wasn't shy, no, the Awesome Me doesn't get shy. I was just…I didn't know if you'd want to talk to me, that's all. So I just stayed away."

"So you were shy."

"No!"

The blond snorted, covering his mouth, trying desperately not to spit out his own coffee. He set his cup down and grabbed a napkin, wiping the corners of his lips before swallowing, and shook his head. "You're really something."

"I know."

* * *

_We met up rather regularly after that. Usually on Fridays after school, when we both had free time. We went to a lot of different places, actually. Sometimes we went to the coffee shop, other times we went around town, and other times we went to my house. I never went to his house, not because he never invited me, it's just my place was obviously cooler.  
_

* * *

"This is the stupidest game ever."

Gilbert grinned, letting go of the mouse key. "It is not. What's not to love about tossing a turtle?"

"But look at how violent that is! Would you want someone to do that to _you_?" Matthew huffed, crossing his arms and reclining in his seat. "Seriously, that's gross."

The albino shrugged, and sat back in his chair as well. "'S no big deal. Anyways, what do _you _want to play, genius?"

He blushed faintly. "Don't call me 'genius'. It makes me sound smarter than I actually am."

"But you are like, ten times smarter than me?"

"Not really."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "You're a genius, I'm stupid. Bottom line."

"No."

"What?"

Matthew shrugged. "You can be just as smart, you just don't use your head. In other terms, if you actually tried to be smart, you'd get into an academy like me."

"Academy-smademy, I don't care. I just want to graduate."

"That's a good attitude, I suppose."

* * *

_The feelings that were inside of me grew steadily over time, as you may have guessed. So you know one day, I just decided to spit it out. 'Cause well, it hurt after a while. I would've still wanted to be friends with him, even if he didn't like me back, so I just hoped that he'd accept me either way.  
_

* * *

"Hey, Matt?"

Matthew looked up from the game they were playing and he turned to him, smiling lightly and tilting his head. "What's up?"

Gilbert paused the game for him and sat down next to him, huffing a bit. His stomach was twisting itself into knots, and he finally took a deep breath.

"This is going to sound like, super fucking weird, but like Matt, I…" his cheeks were tinted pink. "I…uh…"

"You…?"

"Give me a minute!" he hissed, and then clenched his fists. His shoulders slumped and he grabbed a pillow from the bed, and buried his face into it.

_"Ilikeyouokay."_

"What?"

He let out another frustrated sigh. "I…I like you, okay?"

"I like you…too?"

Gilbert slapped his cheeks, blushing furiously by now, which didn't take much considering how pale his face was. "No! Like, I _love _you! A lot!"

Matthew was quiet for a moment, idly drawing his eyes over the game controller as if it had somehow become the most interesting thing in the entire world. In haste, Gilbert spit out, "B-but if you only want to be friends, I totally get it! I mean like this is so weird but I just felt like I needed to tell you so-"

"Gil. Gil it's okay."

"I know but it's just seriously go ahead and tell me you're not into guys really it won't hurt my feelings at all—Ah shit I'm rambling but I mean that Mattie so just go ahead and say it-"

Matthew put his hands on his cheeks, cupping his face so he would look at him. "Gilbert, Gilbert it's okay. I love you too. It's okay."

He stopped, taking hold of his wrists. "Huh?"

Matthew laughed, his own face turning scarlet. "I've liked you for a while now…seriously. I'm being real here. Why do you think I kept agreeing to come out with you? Yeah, you were a great friend but I just…felt _something_ for you. And…it was love."

Gilbert's tension immediately relaxed, and then he grinned broadly. "So does that mean I can do this and you won't hit me?"

Gilbert leaned in and pressed his lips to his, slowly, and rather sloppy, but meaningful all the same.

And he was quite satisfied to feel him pressing back.

* * *

_That was the best. I'll tell you what, after that life was freaking swell. We had the best time together, like, we were meant to be, as cheesy as that sounds. But I mean that. It's like I was meant to meet and love Matthew, and all that was Matthew. Every flaw, and yes of course, every perfection.  
_

* * *

"So I heard you hooked up with that volunteer from the academy~" Antonio cooed, sitting down next to him.

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah, we did. What's it to you?" He punched him playfully in the arm. "You're not planning on stealing him from me, are you?"

Antonio chuckled. "No way! He's your territory, Gil. Just take good care of him. He seems pretty fragile, if you ask me."

The albino snorted. "Fragile? Clearly you don't know Matt."

"No, I don't. But that's what you're for. Go get 'em, tiger."

They did a quick high five, and Antonio poked him in the cheek, in which the gesture was returned.

"Trust me, I will."

* * *

_Like I said, fun times were ahead.  
_

* * *

"Isn't it a little cold to be eating ice cream?"

"Never."

The blond shrugged, licking away at his vanilla cone and staring out at the sunset. He adjusted his glasses with his free hand, and then set it down on the bench they were sitting on. Gilbert glanced over at him and continued to eat his, and then turned back to the array of colors in the sky.

"It's really beautiful, huh?"

"Yeah."

They were happy in each other's company, really, just there sitting in the sunset. Matthew leaned his head on Gilbert's shoulder, and as if on cue, Gilbert in turn laid on his head.

The ice cream began to drizzle down on both of their hands, but they didn't care.

"I love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

_Ah, right. So, if you were to ask me to pinpoint the best moment of all my years in high school, I'd tell you the spring of Senior Year, without a doubt._

_ Why? Because that was the year I met Matthew Williams._

_ And together we had the time of our lives.  
_

* * *

**Ah, it feels so nice to write PruCan again **

**Actually it feels nice to write period. I have so missed it. I've been so busy with school that I haven't really gotten a chance to write any, except little drabbles that aren't worth posting.**

**But at any rate, here this is! I'm a little etchy about this piece, but hey, I'm overall happy with it and I worked pretty hard on it, so I'm not complaining. If the flow is off, sorry for that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Read and Review~?  
**

**-IchigoMelon  
**


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